Year 12 - 2025/2026: Support Thread 2

[QueenMabby]

A new thread for us to keep chatting on!

DD3 and I visited Kings today. Crikey it was heaving and a few of the talks were so busy that it was students only, including the accom one. she seemed to have paid attention and filled me in on the way home. Yesterday was Birmingham - lovely campus and she liked the course. So that’s 3 open days done and happy with all 3 so far. She’s thinking maybe Sheffield in autumn. But struggling to find a fifth so may leave that blank and see if offers come through prior to Jan cut off and add the 5th then if it’s needed.

We’ve done Notts and Warwick the last couple of days. Notts was a yes (despite the insane heat) and he asked to leave Warwick after half an hour because he absolutely hated it! He’s now adamant it’s not maths but aerospace engineering (which puts Warwick out of the picture anyway), so we now need to plan a completely different set of places to visit in sept/oct to what we had planned/booked.

We did durham today. It’s a yes for dd. She liked the course and the accomm is pretty good but rather expensive. We have imperial and York left to do and the Cambridge colleges one in Sept.

@otherthoughtssareavailable great that he’s realised this now and not after he’s started the application process or actually at uni doing maths!

@NotDonna The taster lecture at Warwick yesterday was about how maths means watching paint dry is beautiful. That was the final straw!

Too funny @otherthoughtssareavailable

Hi everyone, it’s been quite some time but I’ve enjoyed reading your messages about open days.

We did Durham on Friday and the Manchester on Saturday, looking at engineering. So very different but both into the top 5. Manchester was great with a huge newish engineering building but the accommodation side is a bit concerning. They are about to demolish two big blocks in Fallowfield (which is popular with 1st years) and these won’t reopen until Sept 2028. So I’m not sure how they’ll guarantee 1st years or what choices they will have. We’ll see. Durham was lovely, much smaller of course.

We missed the Bath/Bristol open days so went to see them last weekend. Bristol was a potential but I think Bath might be out. We had a guided tour, which took in a few buildings like the sports centre but nothing else was open really. I think it was a bit too sporty for DD (she has ruled out Loughborough on that basis too). The next Bristol open day is late October so we’ll have to book that.

DD is considering Cambridge so has to work out if it’s worth a punt really (no pun intended). It’s like an aspirational with many hoops and still a lot of luck needed, I think UCAS estimates the offer rate is 15%.

Sheffield next weekend…

@BreakfastClub80 I guess that means they'll be doing the ESAT. Interested in anyone doing these entrance exams.

To consider Cambridge do you think they need stellar grades PLUS something mind-blowing on their PS? DD and I have a standing joke about a student who was involved in building a bridge over half-term (long story).

Building a bridge? That’s crazy. Dd will be sitting the ESAT for Cambridge and potentially imperial
as well. registration is open and the booking opens on 20 July. She gets home from the IBO on the 19th so just in time.

dd has entered a couple of essay competitions (got an award in one but no wins) but has her IBO place which should hopefully be a big tick in a box somewhere. Otherwise it’s just reading books and listening to podcasts. I did have to tell her that “Natalie Haynes stands up for the classics” probably won’t count much for NatSci!

@CreamBeforeJamOnScones and @QueenMabby - distinct lack of bridgebuilding and awards here but she's still hoping to apply. Just horse trading over the predicted grades here.

Mocks were A star A star A - but where her sister's school would definitely have predicted one up on the 'A', current one wants 'sustained evidence that she's doing something about the lower score'.

Which would be fine, but she's just been diagnosed with glandular fever. Exhausted and the school wants end of term performance prioritised, so she's spent the week either in bed or playing The Marriage of Figaro, rather than going to any lessons. So frustrating as we don't want to stress her out and make her sicker but she really wants the higher prediction.

Yes to ESAT - she’s already applied for extra time ( dyslexic) which you can do ahead of the July date.

i do think they need stellar grades (DH attended a webinar about competitive applications and they said everyone basically had 3 or 4 A stars!). DD almost at that level but waiting for final UCAS grades.So we’ll see. But no one is a dead cert as it’s so popular.

The bridge makes me laugh, it does feel a bit like that doesn’t it? Have a look at example PS, they are hilarious, sound like they’ve been written by very unusual 17 year olds. So, in answer to your question, possibly..

DD took her draft PS to her tutor last week and he was harsh, so lots of work to do on it. She has done a few bits and pieces, including work experience but it’s quite hard to pull it together into something special.

what is your DD applying for? @CreamBeforeJamOnScones

I really thought they were doing away with personal statements and saddened when all they’ve done is split them into 3 questions. DD has submitted a draft to school but I’ve not seen it. They’re quite busy these last few weeks at school so I’m sure she’ll do more of it over the holidays.

We’ve been busy with open days too. He loved Nottingham despite the heat, and also Southampton too. So I think he’s close to deciding what’s going on his form. Still Cambridge to see, the only other one he was interested in that he hasn’t been to is Bath but he isn’t so keen on that now.

@otherthoughtssareavailable DS is planning to do aerospace too so good to know yours liked Nottingham too!

DD2 will be sitting ESATS for Cambridge (NatSci) but I'm not sure whether she'll have "enough" for her PS. She has her Cambridge residential, which will be great, and has secured a week work exp in a science lab. But that's sort of all she has - I tried suggesting wider reading, podcasts, online seminars - I got the patented teenage "what do you old people know?" eyeroll.

Both DDs have Durham high on their list too. We couldn't go to the open day just past (longstanding other commitment) so we have booked into the September one. I am glad to hear so many of the thread DC liked Durham, sounds like it'll be right up DDs' street.

Next weekend we're going to Manchester. That's on DD1's backup list. DD2 is tagging along "just for the Chinese food"

@Poisoningpigeons We're headed to Manchester this weekend too. DD14 is tagging along for the shopping 🛍

DS1 is also a potential aerospace student , really liked Southampton yesterday , Surrey nice but not as impressive . Nottingham and Loughborough booked for the Autumn .

Really need to know his EPQ grade before settling on a 5th - and see if he improves his grades in September . Hoping Southampton was motivational

If we hadn't had the pivot from maths to aerospace then we could've done Southampton or Bath instead of Warwick this weekend🙄He now wants to look at Imperial, Bath, Bristol and Southampton in Sept/Oct. He's pretty sure he'll be putting Imperial, Sheffield and Nottingham on his list.

They could all end up on the same aerospace course! Nottingham and Southampton are definitely the front runners for DS. Sheffield will be on his form too, and unless he hates it next week I’m assuming Cambridge will be. 5th is likely to be either Bristol or Swansea, though they are complete opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of likelihood of an offer! He isn’t interested in London so hasn’t considered Imperial, though I think I’m glad after seeing their typical offer is 3 A stars!

Haha - that sounds like me when I viewed Warwick, straight away I knew I didn't want to apply there, and I put Nottingham as my first choice (missed my grades due to having too much fun in sixth form and went to Machester instead).

That sounds so frustrating. My DD’s school are also strict with predicted grades. They are requiring further evidence for two of my DD’s four. However, they require it in early September. Given she has clearly been ill, and glandular fever takes a good while to recover from, do you think they would consider extra work/evidence delivered in September? I feel like they must, in your DD’s case! Fingers crossed for her.

@achangeofnameisasgoodasarest actually ‘frustrating’ is not the right word! Harsh/unreasonable is better. Given they want excellent outcomes for their students it would be crazy of them not to recognise her circumstances and give her the opportunity to give them the extra evidence they need.

Thanks @Onvacation - fingers crossed they'll give her the time to show them what she can do. Irritatingly the teacher says he believes she's 'definitely capable of an a star'. So just predict it then, and let her rest!

Hello, my DS is in Y12 and would like to apply to competitive unis. How do people go about the TMUA exams? I know some private schools offer preparation. DS is in a mainstream school so no such things…
should i look for a tutor online?

I'm afraid I don't know about tutoring @Placestogo, but my DDs are in state sixth form (2 different colleges) and both colleges have some form of "competitive entry uni" grouping, which preps those students for these things. Selection for the groups seems to be a combo of self-nomination (i.e. those students who know they want to apply for Oxbridge etc) plus academic performance (have to achieve above some cut-off).

DS1 in state grammar - there is definitely extra after school support for kids doing any of those extra tests . He isn’t taking part though so can’t tell you anymore